Week One 2012
And so it begins…
It was a pretty good week. Feedback from one of the kids about day one was that he liked me, but I wasn’t warm and friendly. I wasn’t trying to do the “don’t smile until Christmas” routine, but I did make an effort to be friendlier as the week went on. There is not a lot of reason to crab on this group of kids, who are very sweet for sixth graders. Normally kids in this grade-level are feeling out their adolescent attitudes. This group on initial impression does not seem prone to eye-rolling and talking back, so I’m counting my blessings.
Things were going so well that we did a side trip on Wednesday to the native plant garden we have at the school. Up next week…hand print stencils (we are studying early humans), and journaling while visit the garden again. We’ll also start reading our first novel, Hatchet. I’m looking forward to it, and I think the kids are too. The only cloud on the horizon is that are census is low at the grade-level (27 per class average, with a maximum of 33, and the district would prefer we were at least at 30). Since I’m the low-person on the seniority poll (with 12 years), any shrinking of classes will result in my being “bumped” out of the site. The next grade level (fifth) is only one child over making a split difficult. We’ll have to see if the district will “float” our lower numbers, or close a class.
Photo Credit: Number one-1= by Sheba_Also, on Flickr
From reading this blog, your kids had an awesome first week of school. I am a student at Jacksonville State University where I am an Elementary Education major. I am always searching for great ideas, projects, and activities that will give me the chance to be a productive educator. The garden project with your class seemed interesting and very informative. I loved the sound of it!
Thank you! I hope you are successful. My advice, find one thing to do and set aside 30-45 minutes a week to make it happen.